Our Comfort and Joy

"If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you."
JOHN 16:7
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Our Comfort and Joy
Although Christ Himself admits here that He leaves them and they leave Him reluctantly, yet they must part company. Therefore He talks to them as a father talks to his children. He says: "To be sure, I do not gladly leave you; but since this is inevitable, you must be reconciled to My departure and take comfort from knowing where I am going. For I am not going into death or into hell; I am going into My Father's lap and into His realm, in order that I may also take you where you will be well provided for. Hence you should really rejoice over My going. This is not an everlasting separation; it serves both My advantage and yours." Thus Christ says later in chapter 16:7: "It is to your advantage that I go away from you; for there is a sure and eternal joy, a glorious and mighty kingdom for you, to which you would not be able to come otherwise. . .. I must be crucified and then glorified, in order that the Holy Spirit may be sent and it may become known that I have been placed at the right hand of My Father and have occupied My kingdom. This should be your comfort and joy.

From Sermons on the Gospel of John, Chapters 14-16 (Luther's Works 24:186-87)
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